CEYREP.
On June 8, 1705, fifteen Serjeants-at-law took the customary oaths at the Chancery Bar, and delivered to the Lord Keeper a ring for the Queen, and another for his H.R.H. Prince George of Denmark, each ring being worth 6l. 13s. 4d. The Lord Keeper, Lord Treasurer, Lord Steward, Lord Privy Seal, Lord High Chamberlain, Master of the Household, Lord Chamberlain, and the two Chief Justices, received each a ring of the value of 18s.; the Lord Chief Baron, Master of the Rolls, the Justices of either Bench and two Chief Secretaries each one worth 16s.; the Chief Steward and Comptroller each a ring valued at 1l.; the Marshal, Warden of the Fleet, every Serjeant-at-Law, the Attorney-General, and Solicitor-General, each a ring worth 12s.; the three Barons of Exchequer a ring worth 10s.; the two Clerks of the Crown, the three Prothonotaries, the Clerks of the Warrants, the Prothonotary of Queen's Bench, and the Chirographer, each a ring worth 5s.; each Filazer and Exigenter, the Clerk of the Council, and the Custos Brevium, each a ring that cost 2s. 6d. The motto on the rings was this, "Moribus, armis, legibus."
MACKENZIE WALCOTT, M.A.
48. Jermyn Street.
EXTERMINATION OF EARLY CHRISTIANS IN ORKNEY.
(Vol. iv., p. 439.)
It is capable of demonstration that Christianity was introduced into the Orkney Islands, or at least that missionaries were sent there, long previous to the invasion of Harold Harfagre. Your correspondent W. H. F. mentions that Depping, in the Histoire des Expéditions Maritimes des Normands, states that Sigurd, the second nominally, though really the first earl, expelled the Christians from Orkney, and he requests to know Depping's authority; as the circumstance is not alluded to by Torfæus, the Orkneyinga-Saga or Snorro Sturleson, and has been "either overlooked by Barry, or unknown to him."
The well-known "Diploma or Genealogical Deduction of the Earls of Orkney," written by the bishop of that diocese in the year 1406, and printed in Wallace's Account of Orkney, and in the appendices to Barry's History, and the Orkneyinga-Saga, is generally looked upon, from the circumstances under which it was drawn up, as an authentic document of considerable historical value. It is there mentioned, that the Norsemen found the islands inhabited by the Peti and the Papé, whom they exterminated. But I transcribe the words of the Diploma:
"Hæc terra sive insularum patria Orcadie fuit inhabitata et culta, duabus nacionibus scilicet Peti et Pape, que due genera naciones fuerant destructe radicitus, ac penitus per Norwegenses de stirpe sive de tribu strenuissimi principis Rognaldi, qui sic sunt ipsias naciones aggressi, quod posteritas ipsarum nacionum Peti et Pape non remansit."
Though Chalmers (Caledonia, vol. i. p. 261.) is rather inclined to discredit the above account, it seems probable that those Papé were missionaries or priests, who were also found, under precisely the same name, in Iceland when that island was colonised by the Norsemen (Pinkerton's Enquiry, vol. ii. p. 297.). I have not my copy of Depping at present by me, and therefore am unable to say whether he explains his use of the word Christians in his mention of their expulsion. It may be that, without going into detail, he accepted, as proved, the identity of the Papé and the priests, and believed himself warranted in making the assertion. But perhaps he might have had some other authority of which I am ignorant, as he attributes the expulsion (according to W. H. F.) to Sigurd, whereas the words of the Diploma are, "per Norwegenses de stirpe sive de tribu strenuissimi principis Rognaldi," by no means limiting the deed to his (Rognald's) immediate successor, though inferentially accusing Sigurd of participation. A careful consideration of the entire passage in Depping, and of his general style, may tend to show whether he relied merely on the Diploma, or whether he had some more definite authority.
I may mention, that though it has escaped W. H. F.'s observation, he will find, by referring to pp. 87. 116. 133., Headrick's edition, that Barry did not overlook the early Christianising of the Orkneys, and the extirpation of the Papé; although, seeing that the former is matter of history, and the latter was not a mere tradition in 1406, but derived from a more trustworthy source ("sicut cronice nostre clare demonstrant"), he is scarcely distinct enough, or decided in his inferences. It would be interesting to know what were those "cronice" appealed to by the bishop.